The Colorado String Quartet celebrates its 20th anniversary with
newly-recorded performances of Beethoven String Quartets. The two-disc
set is intended as the first release in a cycle of Beethoven Quartets,
to be completed in time for the Quartet's 25th anniversary.
These performance include all repeats marked by Beethoven in his
scores, extending their playing time so that the four works are on two
well-filled discs (74:20 & 71:08).
The new recording marks the recorded debut of violist Marka Gustavsson
with the Colorado Quartet. Gustavsson, who studied at Indiana University
with Josef Gingold, will soon receive her doctorate from the City
University of New York. She divides her time between New York and New
Haven, where her husband John Halle teaches composition at Yale
University.
Since 2000 the Colorado Quartet has been Quartet-in-Residence at Bard
College, where it gives frequent performances in addition to its touring
schedule. The Quartet is also a regular ensemble at the Mostly Mozart
Festival. It has often performed complete cycles of the Beethoven
Quartets, including one in Berlin in the Fall of 2001.
Critical plaudits for revious recordings of the Colorado Quartet:
"String quartet lovers will be baffled that this group isn't better
known. It's not just their fine sense of ensemble; each member also
presents an absorbing individuality that never taxes overall cohesion."
--David Patrick Stearns, USA Today (both on PACD 96007, Brahms Quartets
Op. 51)
PACD 96024, Quartets of Schubert and Mendelssohn, was named Record of
the Year in 2001 by Chamber Music America/WQXR